g8 and its affects on Savannah from local pre-burner

['stine]

This isn't a political statement...it's just a peak at how life has drastically changed here since G8 is coming to Savannah Georgia as described by a pre-burner. The most obvious thing is the tourist flow quickly dropped as of Thursday down to a mere, spooked trickle. The empty streets make driving easier and faster and safer but it means drastic cuts in income for those of us working in the service industry. At Frozen Paradise, the local downtown bar which is a crime ridden hood in its own right, normally has people lined up for blocks to get in on a Saturday night. There was no line this Saturday night.

Rumor has it that military and media have reserved every hotel room in town. Some of the bed and breakfasts by Forsythe Park have a military presence around them so they must have important guests as well.

There are very serious men and women in uniform (black is predominate, but more and more camo are appearing) on almost every block in the downtown historic area. By the Customs house, the officer has a tommy gun that shoots dayglo pink paint balls. Many of the officers have bunches of white plastic cable hoop ties dangling from their side belts - for use as handcuffs I imagine. And black soccer type pads to protect their shins (from kicks?)

We're used to seeing a few immaculately clean, designer colored Humvees around, driven by materialistic people who have money to burn. Now soldiers cruise in drab colored HumVees down the back alleys between the historical buildings. Long lines of police cars - 8, 9, 12 - race up the street with lights flashing and sirens blaring at odd times and for no apprarent reason. Training?

The court house has been surrounded by 12 foot tall fencing and manned police cars. One of our garden squares has been totally fenced off and walled off and blocked off to traffic. Somebody important must want to do something important there this week.

The dormitories at the Savannah College of Art and Science have been rented to the military and they are now surrounded with barbed wire. The Coast Guard boats usually make passes of the river - mostly at night to scoop drunk people out of the Savannah River it seems. Now they are an obvious consistent presence and are decked out with machine guns. The guard's helicopters make more frequent, lower passes as well.

9 out of 10 people you see near River Street and the Hyatt have lanyards with security badges on them.

There's new kind of person on the scene as well - people wearing drab colored clothes and multipocket vests - photographers prickly with long lensed cameras. They seem like foxes...with sharp eyes and quick movements, searching, restless for just the right moment.

According to a friend in the bus industry, authorities will be parking buses in front of some hotels to prevent suicide bombings.

So far, only one business on Broughton, our main shopping drag, is boarded up. Its a local antique store. I'd think the Gap or Starbucks or Banana Republic just down the street would be more likely targets.

Cement barricades started going up today to route/limit/block traffic.

So that's the view of the authority side. As for the troublemakers.....Haven't seen anything yet, other than the old man with the straw hat, pressed cotton shirt and slacks who walks the street with the sign that reads Jesus or Death. He's been working that angle for at least a year that I know of. I did see a small group of grunge/hippie/tattoed/dreadheaded/dull colored worn clothes/ pierced types walking near the park....but that's normal too - describes a good many art college students down here.

Most students have left town for the summer. Most locals have gone quiet or left town to avoid the whole disturbance of our normally quite quiet life. Downtown no one is out riding bikes, lounging in the parks, chilling in the squares feeding pidgeons, jogging, playing tennis at the public courts. Those of us in the service industry wait for this surreal week to be over and we can delegate it to nothing more than talk over a beer at the corner bar or sweet tea on the veranda.

I don't think Savannah has had this much military activity since Sherman marched to town.

'stine

P.S. As Gawd as mah witness....they can take away my tips but there will be dead people before they take away my BM tickets!

[BAS]

Whose army is occupying my nation and why?!

[cowboyangel]

G8 is now in SF........see http://www.indybay.org

[Jus Say Ventura]

Whose army is occupying my nation and why?!

:(

Why its the NAZI Army of Course!

Art Censored by Thugs
5/31/04: Following news that an unknown assailant punched Lori Haigh in the face, giving her a black eye, and the SFPD advised her to close down the gallery rather than offering her protection, the community met on Tuesday, June 1st, 7pm, at the nearby Live Worms Gallery, to discuss this brutal assault on artists, galleries, and freedom of expression.
5/29/04: Supporters gathered at the gallery: Photos | Video
5/26/04: SF's Capobianco Gallery has been forced to close after right-wingers made death threats and demanded that owner Lori Haigh shut down her exhibit of works by East Bay artist Guy Colwell. In a series of incidents, Haigh was spat on, the gallery was pelted with eggs, trash was dumped in front of the entrance, her children were threatened, and she was called "anti-American" for showing the work. Colwell's The Abuse depicts Pfc. Lynndie England and another soldier smiling gleefully as they look upon a trio of naked, hooded Iraqi prisoners who are hooked up to electrical wires. In the background, a third American soldier is escorting a Muslim woman in a dress into the torture chamber. The painting is black and white, except for American flag patches on the soldiers' uniforms, which appear to be splattered with blood.

As a Navy Seal I fought for the right to express thy self. Those Nazi are fucking with the wrong Cabin Boy!

['stine]

So there was supposed to be a protester march here in Savannah today. someone forgot to motivate the protesters (which is very very fine). More national media, trucks, cameras, protographers and an impressive array of military outnumbered the participants (maybe 100) at the park when I dropped by. Some one needs to do a story on the police horses - counted eight of them - gorgeous animals and mighty looking with plexiglass visors, chest plates, leg padding...modern Troy. Kudos to the independent business man who set up his ice cream truck in the parking lot next to the media trucks. With hot, sunny, humid weather, he was doing a booming business and almost getting more attention than the activities.

The vote is out on whether protesters just weren't into being here or if the authority plans worked. Lord knows you can't rent a hotel room in town, can't rent a car in town, you can't fly or drive cheaply into Savannah. I asked one of the media men and they said it was just as quiet in Brunswick.

The newspaper metal stands have all disappeared.

While me and a couple guys checked out the River Street Sunday night, a few tourists were pointing at the water, saying "Hey, look at the Navy Seals!" Silly, tourists. What they were seeing were dolphins fishing in the river. Since the authorities have stopped all but Coast Guard and cargo ships from moving on the water, the dolphins can actually visit these waters without getting run over. At least there's that positive note about all this weirdness. Then again, perhaps they were Navy Seals or terrorists in really good disguises? ;-)

We're thinking about closing the restaurant/bar for lunch tomorrow - like so many businesses it doesn't pay to open. For sure it doesn't pay to go to work to wait on tables - made $.25 after paying for bus fare yesterday. Got sent home today without even waiting on anyone. The 5,000+ media people at the convention center have unlimited access to a free 24-hour bar and free food including all the hot Krispie Creme doughnuts they can eat. They have no reason to come to town. If I could get a security badge and weasel my way in, I'd never leave the convention center either.

'stine